Incineration system for burnable liquids or sludges

ABSTRACT

In an incineration system with an incineration muffle for burnable liquids or sludges of different heating value, different ignition temperature and/or different viscosity and which possibly contain nonburnable substances, an improved means to feed the material to be incinerated from the roof of the muffle characterized by a plurality of feed tubes depending through the roof with air feed devices being arranged closely adjacent thereto.

United States Patent [72] Inventors Hermann Appelhans Kassel;

Wolfgang Schumann, Hannoversch- Munden, Germany Nov. 25, 1968 Feb. 2,1971 Polyma Maschinebau, Dr. Appelhans G.m.b.l-l.

Frankfurt, Germany [21 Appl. No. [22] Filed v [45] Patented [73]Assignee [54] INCI'NERATION SYSTEM FOR BURNABLE uoutns on SLUDGES 4Claims, 5 Drawing Figs.

[52] us. Cl 110/7 [51 in. C1. F23g 5/00 [50] Field ofSearch ..110/7,s,1s

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,195,608 7/1965 Voorheis eta1 1 10/7X 3,244,220 4/1966 Kloecker 1 l0/7X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,054,610I/ l 967 Great Britain 110/7 Primary Examiner-Kenneth W. SpragueAttorney-Stevens, Davis, Miller & Mosher ABSTRACT: In an incinerationsystem with an incineration muffle for burnable liquids or sludges ofdifferent heating value, different ignition temperature and/or differentviscosity and which possibly contain nonbumable substances, an improvedmeans to feed the material to be incinerated from the roof of the mufflecharacterized by a plurality of feed tubes depending through the roofwith air feed devices being arranged closely adjacent thereto.

PATENTED FEB2 I971 3,559,595

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" HERMANN APPELHANS WOLFGANG SCHUMANN INVENTORS ATT RNEYS PATENTED FEB21971 saw 3 UF 3 HE RMANN APPELHANS WOLFGANG SCHUMANN IN VEN TORS SLUDGESThe wide range of waste substances of a liquid or sludgelike characterwhich are to be burned, such as emulsions, solvents,

b lubricating oils, cutting oils, electroplating muds and the like,

[must be considered. These substances differ from each other in theirviscosity, calorific power, content of noncombustible substances andignition temperature.

7 These substances have previously been homogenized and fed to a rotarykiln through an opening in its front wall. Insofar as incinerationsystems with combustion muffles or furnaces areiused for the eliminationof waste oil and sludgelike substances, the substances to be incineratedmust be allowed to i. enter from on top from a container or the like andpossibly T-also by means of a pump into the muffle in the form of a jetof large cross section.

'Experience has shown that dependable ignition and in- -cinerationcannot be obtained with the above-mentioned type of feed of thesubstances to be incinerated, particularly since 5 'higher demands havebeen made by the change in the applicable regulations with regard to thekeeping of the air clean than 1 was previously the case.

The object of the present invention is to improve an in- J cinerationsystem with an incineration muffle furnace for bumable liquids orsludges of different calorific power and/or different viscosity,possibly containing noncombustible sub stances so that, even in caseswhen the waste substances suptubes which pass through the ceiling of theincineration muffle furnace for the feeding of the bumable substances.In most cases two groups of, for instance five or six feed pipes, areprovided between air feed lines which are arranged in annular manner inthe wall of the combustion muffle furnace.

In the experiments carried out with an installation in accordance withthe invention, it was found that it is advisable to arrange the feedpipes for the bumable substances concentrically in pipes through whichadditional combustion air is fed, the arrangement being such that thefeed pipes for the air extend downward beyond the pipes for the feedingof the combustible materials and therefore into the muffle. A vacuum isthereby produced which substantially supports the conveyance of thebumable substances which in many cases are relatively viscous. Inparticular by this jet of air which surrounds the jet of fuel, theresult is obtained that a depositing of impurities in the end of thefeed pipe for the bumable substances is avoided even in the case, forinstance, of oil sludge. It is therefore advisable to leave the airfeed, which is arranged around the feed of the bumable materials, openfor a time after the feed for the bumable materials has been closed. If,for reasons of dosagingone or more feeds for combustion material are nolonger filled, the continued combustion air flow further removes tracesof waste oil or oil sludge which drip off. At the same time the ends ofthe tubes for the air feed or the feeding of combustible materials whichextend into the muffle are cooled so that no formation of scale takesplace.

In order to facilitate the cleaning operations which must be carried outat certain time intervals, the feed for the bumable materials and theair feed possibly associated therewith are so developed that rapidremoval and reassembling are possible.

The incineration system can be operated in such a manner that a mixtureof the different waste materials which has been homogenized in knownmanner is fed to it and distributed over the different pipes of a groupor of several groups. The feed pressure is so selected that the quantitycorresponding to the desired rate of flow is introduced into the system.Atomization does not take place particularly since the feed tubes forthe bumable substances do not have any reduction of the cross section atthe outlet end.

The apparatus in accordance with the invention can however also beoperated in accordance with a method which has not been theretoforeknown in the art. In this case, burnable substances of differentproperties are fed to the individual feed tubes, for instance a thinlyliquid substance which may have a lower ignition temperature is fed toone feed tube while a more viscous substance which can be ignited onlywith difficulty and which has only a low calorific power is fed toanother feed tube of the same group. In this way it is possible to causedifferent waste materials of very different properties to burn withoutbeing mixed with each other. Homogenized mixtures of differentproperties can also be fed to different tubes of a feed group.

By the manner of operation possible with the new apparatus, particularadvantages are obtained when it is desired to incinerate combustiblematerial of low heating value which requires an assisting of the fire.Thus, for instance, solvents can be allowed to flow into the mufflethrough two inlets which lie approximately in the same cross section ofthe muffle on both sides of its longitudinal axis, in which connectionfor instance a flame temperature of about 1600 C is present. This flamepromotes the combustion of a drilling oil emulsion of high water contentand correspondingly low heating value which enters through another feedtube.

The incineration system is subdivided so that the first part, in whichthe slag is obtained, is easier to clean. The second part of the systemis developed as an aftercombustion chamber which is at right angles tothe first part of the system. Both parts are developed as muffle andequipped with a number of air feed rings by means of which the course ofthe combustion and the combustion temperatures can be substantiallycontrolled. The number of air feed rings and the cross section madeavailable by them is so selected that the air feed capacity is more thanthe air requirement to be normally expected; as a result it is possibleto obtain excellent combustion even in difficult cases. The exhaustgases can be drawn off from the aftercombustion chamber by an induceddraft which is arranged behind the electric filter in which theprecipitation of the dust takes place.

The means for accomplishing the foregoing objects and other advantages,which will be apparent to those skilled in the art, are set forth in thefollowing specification and claims, and are illustrated in theaccompanying drawings dealing with a basic embodiment of the presentinvention. Reference is made now to the drawings in which:

FIGS. 1 and 2 are a side elevation and a top view, respectively, of theincineration muffles of the incineration system with the feeds for thesubstances to be incinerated arranged in groups;

FIG. 3 is a section view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a section view taken along the line 4-4 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 5 shows in partial section a tube for the feeding of combustiblematerial, arranged concentrically in a tube for the feed of additionalcombustion air.

Only the incineration muffle 1 of the incineration system is shown inthe drawings. The system consists of the tank device, the chargingdevice, the incineration muffle 1, the aftercombustion chamber, the ashremoval device and the exhaust-gas, dust-precipitation system.

The charging device comprises a collecting tank, storage containers,pumps and conduits as well as a mixing container with a circulatingpump. The material supplied for incineration, for instance solvents,waste oil, emulsions, oil sludges, is pumped into the containersprovided for it and mixed as required in the mixing container unless-asmentioned above- -incineration of the supplied substances throughseparate feeds is effected.

From the mixing container, or else from one of the storage containers,the material to be incinerated is fed into the incineration muffle 1.The entrance into the muffle takes place through the pipes 2 which passthrough the roof of the muffle perpendicularly to the longitudinal axisthereof. The cross sections of the tube are so selected that, in case ofconveyance under pump pressure, smooth introduction of the materialtakes place without atomization.

In the embodiments shown (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2) leads 2 for the liquid orsludgelike substances to be incinerated are arranged in groups on thetop or in the roof of the muffle 1 between the air feeds 3, and 6. Theair feeds 5 and 6 are arranged in ring shape in the muffle wall and airfeed 3 is on the front end of the muffle. In FIG. 2, the leads 10, foradditional air, are shown surrounding the tubes 2. This air feed alsocontains additional parts which are illustrated in detail in FIG. 5.

FIG. 3 shows the structure of the air feed ring 6 which surrounds themuffle on the sides and on top. Radial channels 16 extend from the ring6 into the inside of the muffle 1.

FIG. 4 shows the face wall of the muffle l with the air feeds 3 and thesupporting burners 4 which may be provided in a known manner. It isadvisable, after shutting off of the supporting flame, to continue tofeed air through the air feeds 24 of the supporting burners 4 in orderto assure complete combustion.

The feed tube 2 (cf. FIG. 5) is connected via the elbow 26 and the pipecoupling 25 to the feed line for the material to be incinerated which isa branch line and can be closed off by the slide valve 13. Thedistributor is not shown.

An annular chamber 9 is welded concentrically about the tube 2 for thefeeding of additional air which is connected via a connection 8 and thepipe coupling 15 to the air feed line containing the shutoff slide valve14.

The air tube, which is formed by the welding together of the parts and11, bears at its upper end a flange 17 which faces the flange 18 on theannular chamber 9. The air tube 10 can be fastened by means of theclamping ring 12 which is arranged on the roof of the muffle 1.

By loosening the parts 12, 15, 17, 18 and 25 an easy and rapiddisassembly and reassembling of the parts serving for the feeding of theincineratable material and air is possible.

The lining of the muffle is designated 27 and may be of any suitableconventional material. The connection 28 (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2) connectsthe muffle l with the aftercombustion chamber (not shown).

In the incineration of substances of different properties, it isadvantageous to feed the more readily igniting substances or betterburning substances through those tubes which lie closer to the frontside of the muffle in order to thereby support the incineration of themore difficultly bumable or ignitable substances which are fed nearer tothe center of the muffle.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The presentembodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrativeand not-restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by theappended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changeswhich come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims aretherefore to be embraced therein.

We claim:

1. In an incineration system having an incineration muffle for bumableliquids or sludges of different heating values, different ignitiontemperatures and/or different viscosity and which may containnonburnable substances, an improved feed means for feeding the materialto be incinerated to said muffle, said feed means comprising a pluralityof material feed tubes passing through the top side of said muffle anddisposed to drop said material in free fall onto the hearth of saidmuflle, first air feed means mounted in the front end of said mufi'le,and at least one second air feed means arranged to feed air into saidmuffle from the top and both sides.

2. The apparatus according to claim I in which said material feed tubesare arranged in grou s, at least one of said second alr feed means beingpositione between two groups of said material feed tubes and at leastone of said second air feed means being positioned between the last ofsaid groups and exhaust.

3. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said feed means comprisesa plurality of combustion air tubes each of which is arrangedconcentrically about a material feed tube, said combustion air tubesdepending into said muffle beyond the material feed tubes.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 in which each said combustion airtube further comprises an annular chamber at its upper end, said chamberhaving one end sealingly engaging said material feed tube and the otherend opening into said combustion air tube, pipe coupling meansconnecting a combustion air source to said annular chamber, means fordetachably mounting said combustion air tube on said mufile, and secondpipe coupling means connecting said material feed tube to a materialsource.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said material feed tubes are arranged in groups, at least one of said second air feed means being positioned between two groups of said material feed tubes and at least one of said second air feed means being positioned between the last of said groups and exhaust.
 3. The apparatus according to claim 1 in which said feed means comprises a plurality of combustion air tubes each of which is arranged concentrically about a material feed tube, said combustion air tubes depending into said muffle beyond the material feed tubes.
 4. An apparatus according to claim 3 in which each said combustion air tube further comprises an annular chamber at its upper end, said chamber having one end sealingly engaging said material feed tube and the other end opening into said combustion air tube, pipe coupling means connecting a combustion air source to said annular chamber, means for detachably mounting said combustion air tube on said muffle, and second pipe coupling means connecting said material feed tube to a material source. 